Authorities say 63 people remain missing as rescue efforts are hampered by heavy rain, thick mud and the threat of new landslides.
The death toll from a landslide that hit a gold mining village in the southern Philippines has risen to 54 people and 63 others are missing, authorities said.
The landslide hit the mountainous village of Masara in Davao de Oro province on Tuesday night after weeks of torrential rain.
The Davao de Oro provincial government said in a Facebook post that 54 bodies had been recovered, raising its previous death toll of 37 earlier in the day, as rescue teams found more bodies. At least 32 residents survived with injuries, but 63 were still missing, he added.
Among the missing were gold miners who were waiting in two buses to be taken home when the landslide hit and buried them.
Edward Macapili, a Davao de Oro official, said more than 300 people participated in the rescue, but operations were hampered by heavy rain, thick mud and the threat of new landslides.
Rescue efforts resumed Sunday morning, Macapili said. When asked if there were still survivors, he said it was now “unlikely” but that the search would continue. “The rescue team is doing the best they can, although it is very difficult,” he told Reuters news agency.
Rocks, mud and trees slid more than 700 meters (2,300 feet) down a steep hillside near Apex Mining Co's concession, burying an 8.9-hectare (22-acre) section of the Masara community.
A three-year-old girl was pulled alive from the rubble on Friday in what rescuers described as a “miracle”.
More than 1,100 families have been moved to evacuation centers for their safety, disaster response officials said.
Rain has lashed parts of the southern region on and off for weeks, triggering dozens of landslides and flooding that have forced tens of thousands of people to seek emergency shelters.
Earthquakes also damaged homes and buildings in the region in recent months, officials said.
Landslides are a common hazard in much of the archipelago nation due to mountainous terrain, heavy rainfall, and widespread deforestation due to mining, slash-and-burn agriculture, and illegal logging.
